Here are some fantastic Plastic Free July Starter kits and Bundles that will help you save money AND begin or refine your efforts for a plastic free, zero waste lifestyle.
Plastic free July is a great prompt to start reducing your plastic use permanently and help protect our environment from plastic pollution.
If it's your first time, or perhaps you want to make a more sustainable effort this year, here are some fantastic starter kits to help you succeed going plastic free or zero waste for the month of July and beyond.
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The purpose of Plastic Free July is to encourage us all to think about our plastic usage and make a change. You don't have to go 100% plastic free by the way, and many people opt for specific items or areas of their home to focus on.
Not buying any plastic items and products is a HUGE challenge and I haven't yet succeeded in doing this for an entire month.
Why? because life happens and I may need to take a headache tablet, I may accidentally get a plastic straw when I order a drink, and if we really want to drill down further, some of my clothing likely contains micro plastics. Don't get hung up on this though, do your best and keep moving forward where you can to reduce plastic in your life. That's what I am doing!
I've been on the journey to zero waste for a while now and have cut out so many disposable items including plastics. BUT plastic is literally everywhere and sometimes it is unavoidable and accidental. So whatever your plans are for the challenge, give it a go and don't expect absolute perfection the whole time.
Below, you'll find all sorts of amazing plastic free kits for areas of your home and life. Some are designed to get you started on a plastic free lifestyle while others will help you level up your efforts.
This is a big list (bigger than I planned) so I've separated it into sections in this order:
>Basic Essentials Plastic Free Kits
> Plastic Free Shopping Kits
>Plastic Free Kitchen Kits
>Plastic Free Laundry Bundles
>Plastic Free Bathroom Kits
All the kits come from sustainable, ethical companies that ship zero waste within Australia.
Trust me, the last thing you want when you order a reusable item online is a load of extra plastic packaging. THAT is so frustrating, but you wont need to worry about that here.
Beginner Starter Kits for a Plastic Free Life
These plastic free kits contain a variety of items that are incredibly useful when starting out on a plastic free journey. If you already have a collection of the basics, skip forward to the next sections.
If you're starting from scratch, this (above) is one of the best bundles to invest in and will help you start reducing single-use plastic straightaway. You get a reusable straw, a bamboo toothbrush, soap berries (which does 20 loads of laundry), a reusable string market bag, a pack of 5 reusable produce bags, a beeswax wrap and a glass keep cup. You can Find it here.
I love this bamboo reusable coffee cup and it comes in this handy on-the-go kit with a stainless steel straw, a bamboo spork (no other cutlery compares to a spork!) plus a set of Earthstribe produce bags. All fantastic items to get you prepared for easy plastic free swaps. When you buy this, you are also supporting a sustainable Aussie family business, find out more here.
This plastic free office essentials kit above is perfect if you prefer to start small and find yourself regularly grabbing a coffee, having a drink out or buying your lunch. This can cut a significant amount of plastic trash out of your life over a month, aswell as the rest of the year and beyond. It's simple and will help you (or someone you love) make a long term commitment to reusables. (Oh, and you can customise your keep cup and straws too).
I know this is aimed at office workers but to me, having been a recent student, feels like a uni student essential kit because the amount of times I initially got caught out without utensils or a keep cup caused some serious inconvenience.
The Swag bundle (pictured above) contains a swag reusable starter kit that is going to help with groceries, lunches and snacks as well as plastic free cups of tea. It includes a large bag, a long bag and a small bag, and you get to choose the colour. These are made from unbleached cotton and designed to extend the life of your fresh produce. Plus it comes with a set of high quality produce bags (3 large and one small), a lunch bag (with an inbuilt pouch for cutlery or a cool pack), and a set of 4 reusable tea bags.
Not only will you be reducing plastic usage but you'll be cutting down on food waste too. And YES it comes with absolute minimum packaging and no plastic and you'll be supporting a great Aussie company too.
Plastic Free Kits For Shopping
Many of us have been reusing our green shopping bags at the supermarket each week for perhaps years now. But did you know that the majority of these are made from plastics, and require so many uses to offset the energy used to make them. Personally, I find they only just last long enough to do this and by then have deteriorated so badly they can no longer be used. (By the way, those can usually be recycled via RedCycle).
This set below is a much more sustainable option to those green shopping bags and is completely plastic free.
This big bundle of reusable organic cotton shopping bags includes everything you need for a plastic free shop. 2 large canvas tote bags (with internal pockets for organising items), 2 string carry bags, plus 10 reusable produce bags, which can be used to make nut milk, carry fresh produce or fill up at the bulk store. It's fantastic value (and as I'm writing this is currently on sale). You can find it here and have it shipped absolutely zero waste to your door step.
If you shop small, or regularly head to the markets, this farmers market kit comes with a pack of reusable produce bags, an onya bread bag (which is great for freezing too) and a large ecofriendly market bag made from canvas and jute (instead of plastic like those green bags at the supermarket). This is a great way to start to swap out existing items rather than purchasing a big kit.
For bulk food shopping, glass jars and BYO containers help reduce plastic packaging BUT they do add a lot of weight which can be a real pain if you're on foot or using public transport. For this reason, I tend to use reusable bulk bags more than glass jars. This bulk shopping starter kit is super lightweight. You get 3 bulk bags (small, medium and large) which are labelled with the tare weight and feature those handy see through windows, plus a carry bag to bring it all home and a handy storage pouch to pop them all into when empty. You can continue to store your bulk haul in the bags at home in your pantry and refill when you need to.
Plastic Free Kitchen Kits
Getting your kitchen plastic free can take a little time and trial and error. One rule of thumb is never buy something you don't plan to use many times, otherwise it will simply take up space and not give you the benefits it should.
This Plastic Free Kitchen Kit is a fabulous start to ensure the items you use everyday are being swapped to a sustainable, plastic-free option. This is all 100% biodegradable and is going to last longer than the disposable plastic versions too. It comes with a coconut fibre scrubber, a veggie cleaning brush, a dish brush and a bottle brush plus a set of 3 beeswax wraps.
This is good value for non-beginners too. I plan to purchase this kit once my scrubbers need replacing.
An alternative Plastic Free July Kitchen Kit is this one pictured above. It has an eco veggie brush, a set of 2 beeswax wraps, 3 plant dyed dish cloths and an eco nail brush. I've been reading a lot on plant dyed fabrics and it's definitely a better option to chemical dyes. I'm really looking forward to playing around with it as you can get some great colours from veggie scraps.
If you bought a pod machine before you realised just how much trash it creates, don't despair! (and if you still have some pods to use up, remember you can recycle them at a TerraCycle drop off point, but of course avoiding beats recycling anyday)
This kit will get you using it again without the guilt and the plastic trash. It comes with a stainless steel reusable pod that you can refill along with a manual hand coffee grinder and a pack or organic fair trade coffee. You can reuse the coffee bag to purchase in bulk, and if you prefer, you can get each of these components separately. I love this because it's a fabulous gift for coffee addicts during plastic free July too. Check out all the details here.
Let's talk food storage. Plastic is handy but glass is far better. I've just purchased this particular set for myself (even though it does come with plastic lids) because I'm in the process of slowly replacing plastic food storage containers with more sustainable options.
This 10 piece food storage set is designed to store food, and can be used in the freezer as well as the oven.
It means my hot leftovers can be popped into the container to cool, and reheated later without worrying about potential plastics leeching into my foods. If I don't intend to eat it, it can head to the freezer. (AND it is dishwasher safe). No it isn't completely plastic free, but the quality is fantastic and very compact to store and built to last a lot of use. No need for foil, glad wrap or ziplock bags.
As you might already know, I have mixed feelings about reusable food pouches. For us, they aren't essential but with toddlers or babies these can be extremely convenient and a much better option than purchasing disposable single-use plastic pouches. This kids lunch kit comes with a selection of liquid pouches, sandwich and snack pouches, wrap pouches and a reusable ice-pole pouch. You can view the little kids kit here and the big kids lunch kit here.
Plastic Free Laundry Bundles
Going plastic free while still getting your washing and cleaning achieved isn't as hard as you might have thought. These kits will help set you up for plastic free July and beyond.
The best way to avoid disposable plastic bottles and toxic chemicals is to begin making your own cleaning products at home. This Natural DIY Cleaning Kit comes with basic recipes, reusable glass spray bottles, handy essential oils plus castile soap, so you can get started straight away. Just swapping out a couple of cleaning products really does make a difference over a year and it is a simple way to create a lasting change.
If you're seeking a simpler option check out this awesome zero waste laundry bundle.
It comes with everything you need to start a sustainable laundry routine.
Wondering about getting your clothes washing done without plastic?
Soap berries are brilliant. When I tried them I was completely surprised with how effective they were. This little kit comes with 500 grams of soap berries and you choose the laundry tonic. This is all grey water safe and safe for septic systems. You should get around 500 washes from the berries. Just add 5 or 6 into the wash which can be reused a few times before composting in the garden. It will leave your clothes feeling soft without having to add in any fabric softener too. This kit can be found here.
Bathroom Kits For Plastic Free Living
Bathrooms are so personal, and products that work brilliantly for some can be a disaster for others so I've simply covered the basics and a few options you might want to try while going plastic free.
This Body Basics Bundle from Biome Eco Stores contains the staples for going plastic-free.
It may not look like it is replacing a huge amount of bathroom products BUT these are all items that are traditionally plastic based, difficult to recycle and frequently found in the trash.
This second plastic free bathroom kit has the added bonus of containing a set of 10 reusable makeup rounds, which I find super useful in the bathroom AND a bar of Beauty and the Bees shampoo (my absolute favourite brand). You will also get to try out a bamboo toothbrush, plastic free cotton buds, a coconut body scrubber and mulberry silk dental lace. These switches will help you start the day plastic free without even thinking about it. If you need a conditioner bar to go with the shampoo, I highly recommend this one as it's got no nasties and gives great results (even on my hair which can be pretty unruly).
If you have already swapped out a lot of the basic bathroom items, you can level up your efforts and have a go at making some of your own products, it's actually a lot of fun. This DIY Naked Skincare Starter Kit contains a fantastic selection of reusable bottles, jars and containers. You can find some DIY recipes here to get started.
Yes, I am totally going there.... period products create a massive amount of waste over a lifetime and reusables are not that scary. If you're going to try plastic free for a whole month then plastic free periods is going to cross your mind at some stage. This starter kit has a great selection of organic cotton reusables at a cheaper price than buying individually. You can find this set here.
If you are considering this swap, do check out this post that covers Everything You Need To Know About Reusable Cloth Pads
This nifty plastic free travel toiletries kit contains glass and metal alternatives to plastic containers and you can keep refilling these with your own products. Yes, they are all under the 100ml restrictions too, so these can travel with you in hand-luggage on-board your next flight.
Now you have all the information you need on the best plastic free starter kits I could find available for this plastic free July.
Don't forget, even if you aren't ready to commit to a kit just yet, most of these items can be found individually both online or at your local zero waste store too.
I hope this has given you some great ideas for going plastic free and you can find at least one plastic item to ditch this year. You can view some of my favourite Eco brands and products for more ideas.
If you're looking for some more easy tips, check out this mega list of 50 Plastic Free July Ideas or head over to the Free Zero Waste Challenge
I would love to hear what items you have switched to in the past or plan to switch this year. Over the years I have had some amazing plastic free swaps that I absolutely can't live without.....along with some that really didn't help me as much as I thought they would.
My favourites do change as my lifestyle becomes more sustainable and as I learn more.
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